Hierarchical Ternary Sulfides as Effective Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Generation Through Water Splitting: A Review on the Performance of ZnIn2S4

One of the major aspects and advantages of solar energy conversion is the photocatalytic hydrogen generation using semiconductor materials for an eco-friendly technology. Designing a low-cost efficient material to overcome limited light absorption as well as rapid recombination of photogenerated charge carriers is essential to achieve considerable hydrogen generation. In recent years, sulfide based semiconductors have attracted scientific research interest due to their excellent solar response and narrow band gap. The present review focuses on the recent approaches in the development of hierarchical ternary sulfide based photocatalysts with a special focus on ZnIn2S4. We also observe how the electronic structure of ZnIn2S4 is beneficial for water splitting and the various strategies involved for improving the material efficiency for photocatalytic hydrogen generation. The review places emphasis on the latest advancement/new insights on ZnIn2S4 being used as an efficient material for hydrogen generation through photocatalytic water splitting. Recent progress on essential aspects which govern light absorption, charge separation and transport are also discussed in detail.

A promising ternary sulfide bidirectional p-n heterojunction for unassisted tandem photoelectrochemical cell

Investigating high-efficiency, low-cost and abundant photoelectrode materials has always been a hot spot for researchers to attention in photoelectrochemical (PEC) system. Here we firstly study the PEC performance of ternary...

Remarkable thermoelectric property enhancement in Cu2SnS3-CuCo2S4 nanocomposites via 3D modulation doping

P-type ternary sulfide Cu2SnS3 and CuCo2S4 with merits of low toxicity, natural abundance and intrinsic low lattice thermal conductivity are considered as promising eco-friendly thermoelectric materials. Here, we report a...

Highly Active Deficient Ternary Sulfide Photoanode for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

<div>The exploration of photoanode materials with high efficiency and stability is the </div><div>eternal pursuit for the realization of practically solar-driven photoelectrochemical </div><div>water splitting. Here we develop a novel deficient ternary metal sulfide (CdIn2S4) </div><div>as photoanode, and its PEC performance is significantly enhanced by introducing </div><div>surface S vacancies, achieving a photocurrent density of 5.73 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. </div><div>RHE and 1 Sun and an applied bias photon-to-current efficiency of 2.49% at 0.477 </div><div>V vs. RHE, which, to the best of our knowledge, are the record-high values for a </div><div>single sulfide photon absorber to date. The experimental characterizations and </div><div>theoretical calculations highlight the enhanced effect of surface S vacancies on the </div><div>interfacial charge separation and transfer kinetics, and also demonstrate the </div><div>restrained surface states distribution and the transformation of active sites after </div><div>introducing surface S vacancies. This work may inspire more excellent work on </div><div>developing sulfide-based photoanodes. </div>

Highly Active Deficient Ternary Sulfide Photoanode for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

<div>The exploration of photoanode materials with high efficiency and stability is the </div><div>eternal pursuit for the realization of practically solar-driven photoelectrochemical </div><div>water splitting. Here we develop a novel deficient ternary metal sulfide (CdIn2S4) </div><div>as photoanode, and its PEC performance is significantly enhanced by introducing </div><div>surface S vacancies, achieving a photocurrent density of 5.73 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. </div><div>RHE and 1 Sun and an applied bias photon-to-current efficiency of 2.49% at 0.477 </div><div>V vs. RHE, which, to the best of our knowledge, are the record-high values for a </div><div>single sulfide photon absorber to date. The experimental characterizations and </div><div>theoretical calculations highlight the enhanced effect of surface S vacancies on the </div><div>interfacial charge separation and transfer kinetics, and also demonstrate the </div><div>restrained surface states distribution and the transformation of active sites after </div><div>introducing surface S vacancies. This work may inspire more excellent work on </div><div>developing sulfide-based photoanodes. </div>

Synthesis of ternary sulfide nanomaterials using dithiocarbamate complexes as single source precursors

Heating mixtures of dithiocarbamate complexes in oleylamine leads to the formation of nanoparticulate ternary metal sulfides, the physical nature and phase of which can be tailored depending upon the reaction conditions adopted.